While Anjali was praying inside the dargah, Khushi was waiting outside for her, and she called Shyam to inform him what had happened recently and take his help to make her final decision whether to continue to work in AR or not. Shyam asked her to take the decision by her heart. If she wants to continue working in AR after this, he won't have any problems with her decision. After talking to him, she felt relieved and confident in her decision to continue in AR.

When Anjali finished praying inside the dargah, she joined Khushi, who was waiting for her outside.

Khushi bought another wish lock and followed Anjali to the tree, making Anjali stare at her, confused. "Your wish has already been fulfilled. Now you want to ask for something else? Let me guess.. you want to make a wish for Aman, right?" she asked teasingly.

Khushi shook her head, "Arey nahi. I bought this wish lock to make a wish for your brother, not for me."

"Arnav ke liye? (For Arnav?)," Anjali smiled confused.

"Haan.. this is Khushi Kumari Gupta's style to thank him for fulfilling my wish," Khushi winked at Anjali as they proceeded to tie their respective locks, giggling

Khushi closed her eyes as she spoke in her mind. This time, she was cautious not to speak in public and let other people hear her rantings. She was already embarrassed to even think Arnav heard her calling him Rakshas and complaints about him.

"Khwaja ji, I'm back again! But this time, it's not for me.. it's for that Rakshas I was talking about sometime ago.. aapne dekha na.. he was here too.. he was eavesdropping my conversation with you. I thought he came following Di to scold her for meeting me secretly. But it turns out that he came to return my mannat lock and fulfilled my wish. See, he heard everything I said about him.. but still, he didn't scold or punish me for this. Instead, he fulfilled my wish because I passed his test. Kitne ajeeb insaan hai na voh.. (he's so strange, right).. I really don't know.. kya voh meri zindagi mein ek Rakshas ya ek Farishta banke aaya hai? (Did he come into my life like a demon or an angel?).. Khair, jo bhi hai.. I'm grateful to him that he didn't fire me from this job despite knowing I'm not qualified for this. And see, I should be offended that he thought I'm behind Di because of her money, but I understood that as a brother he was worried and he cares for his sister and that's why he did this plan to test our friendship. That's why.. I'm here to make a wish for him. Khwaja ji, whenever I look right into his eyes.. I always see emptiness.. like a vast emptiness of a dark ocean.. I don't know what secrets lie in the dark depths of this mysterious ocean.. but I hope he finds a lighthouse that shines its light to help him find his way out of this darkness."

Khushi silently tied the mannat lock and turned to Anjali, who was waiting for her to leave.

"Chalein?" Anjali asked, and she nodded with a soft smile.

On their way to the car, Khushi started biting her nails nervously, "Di.. I called your brother Rakshas.. Mr. Whatever in anger.  How will I face him in the office now? I always embarrass myself in front of him. Now I'm sure he will exceed his quota of scolding and insulting me in the office." 

Anjali chuckled, "You should have thought about the consequences before speaking!"

Khushi pouted, "Di, don't laugh at me. It's not funny. Pata hai when your brother scolds me, then I feel like crying. He's very cruel, strict, and scary. That's why I named him Rakshas. One look of his is enough to make me shiver in fear."

"Really?" Anjali raised her brows with a surprise smile, "I do not think so. You were talking to him so fearlessly and boldly some time ago. In fact, believe me when I say this, you are one of the few and rare people I have seen talking to Bhai in that tone and it is shocking that he didn't react the same way he did with Aman."

"That I spoke in anger and also because I thought he wouldn't be my boss anymore. Main usse sabak sikhana chahti thi jaane se pehle (I wanted to teach him a lesson before leaving)," Khushi cried as they got inside the car.

Anjali asked the driver to take them to Khushi's house so she could change her clothes into formal for office while trying hard to not laugh at Khushi's condition.

"That's why I'm always telling you to think before speaking, and you always do the opposite," Anjali chuckled, hitting Khushi's head playfully.

"Di!" Khushi pouted, faking anger as she crossed her arms and looked away at the window side.

"Accha na.. think positive. I don't think Arnav will punish you because of this, he didn't even react nor showed anger on his face when you were scolding him," Anjali said, cupping Khushi's cheek and forcing Khushi to look at her side.

"Baat toh sahi hai (you're right)," Khushi agreed, then she looked at Anjali a little hesitant before asking softly, "Di, have you never tried to find out why he is like this? Why does he behave strangely towards you and your family?"

"I don't really know Khushi.. and even when I try to talk to him, he always avoids me or anyone in the house.. he only accepts interacting with Mohan Kaka," Anjali sighed sadly, her tone changed to a serious one.

Khushi remembered the way Arnav spoke like a normal person to Mohan Kaka, unlike the way he interacts with other people around him.

"He seems to be very close to Mohan Kaka, haina?" Khushi asked as a soft smile played on her lips, thinking of the way Arnav treats Mohan Kaka with respect as if he's a family member.

"Bohot.. Believe me, I'm not exaggerating when I say that Arnav spent more time in his childhood with Mohan Kaka than our parents. Mohan Kaka took care of him when he was a little baby until he turned 8 years old," Anjali said.

"What happened after that?" Khushi asked, fully interested in Arnav's past story.

"Dad sent him to a boarding school in London," Anjali replied.

Khushi felt bad listening to this, "He sent an 8 year old kid alone to a boarding school abroad."

Anjali nodded sadly, "Then I was separated from my brother. We used to visit him during the holidays, but it was never the same... as we grew up, we rarely kept in touch... we rarely had any sibling moment in our lives. I guess that's why he stays distant from us too."

Khushi gulped, as she remembered the moment she overheard Arnav's conversation with his father regarding his extramarital affairs and at last Arnav's words kept echoing in her mind, "I have countless wounds that a simple ointment will not be able to heal it, Miss Gupta."

"He said he has countless wounds that day.. why do I have the feeling that a lot of horrible things happened to him when he was in London and his family has no idea about it?" Khushi thought to herself.

Anjali patted Khushi's shoulder, bringing her back to earth, "What happened, Khushi? Where are you lost?"

Khushi shook her head, faking a smile on her face, "Nothing."

*****************************************

AR Office..

Arnav stepped out of the elevator, heading towards his cabin, when his eyes fell on Miss Gupta, who was opening her laptop to start working. His hand was still holding on to the door handle while narrowing his eyes at her for reaching late.

Khushi knew that look, so she simply raised her hands to her ears, holding them and mouthing, "Sorry" for the delay with a cute guilty look.

"This better be the last time, Miss Gupta," he warned her in an intimidating tone and walked inside his cabin.

Khushi pouted, muttering to herself, "See Devi Maiya, he already knows why am I late to office, still he is scolding me. If I had appeared here in a traditional attire, then he would have scolded me too. I need to go back home to change my clothes into a formal one. That's why I reached late. I'm not any super woman to fly around the city and get my work done in five minutes. But nahi.. isme bhi meri hi galti hai (but no.. this is also my fault)."

*****************************************

While Anjali was leaving AR after dropping Khushi, she met Aman on her way. She greeted him politely, "Hi Aman. How are you?"

"I'm fine. And you, Di?" he asked with a smile on his face.

"I'm also fine," Anjali blinked, her eyes smiling.

"Did you come here to meet Khushi? As you already know, she decided to quit this job. So she will come a bit late today only to submit her resignation letter," Aman informed.

"Well... Aman, I was with Khushi at the dargah. It's a long story, but in short, Khushi is not going to quit this job, and my brother also has no problem with our friendship," Anjali said.

"What?" Aman frowned, shocked.

"Yes.. maybe she forgot to inform you as she was in a rush..."

Aman didn't wait for Anjali to explain as he walked away from there, with his anger increasing with every step he took towards the 15th floor of the building, ASR's cabin.

*****************************************

Khushi watched Aman coming towards her cabin. She widened her eyes as hurriedly got up from her chair and rushed to him in panic, "What are you doing here, Aman? Please leave.. there is a camera installed here. If my boss notices you, then he will scold me."

She tried to push him to send him away, but he held her wrist firmly, gritting his teeth, "Let him see.. I. DON'T. CARE!"

Khushi gulped, staring at him dumbfounded for a minute as she was shocked to see Aman in this avatar. He looked fuming mad with his heated glare directed towards her.

"What happened, Aman? Why do you look so angry?" she asked, her heart beating fast as she was afraid of his behaviour.

"What are you doing here?" Instead of replying to her, he asked in a cold, rude tone, gazing intently at her.

"I'm working," Khushi replied, frowning in confusion, and it was then that she realized that she hadn't informed him about the decision she'd made to continue working in AR.

She wrapped her arms around his neck, hugging him tightly with her eyes closed, feeling guilty, "I'm sorry.. I'm so sorry, meri jaan. I forgot to inform you that I won't submit my resignation letter as it's needed anymore. It's just that everything happened so suddenly.. I wasn't expecting to find my boss in the dargah.. Anyway, I'll tell you later what - "

Khushi was unable to complete what she was saying to him as she was roughly pushed away by Aman. She looked at him numbly and hurt.

"You know what... you have no shame or self-respect for choosing to work in this place, for the same man who threw hot coffee in your fiancé's face, who humiliated me in front of everyone, who keeps scolding and insulting you, who did a disgusting agreement with her own sister to break off her friendship with you because he can't stand his sister being friends with a middle-class woman. This is simply unbelievable. What other reason do you need to quit this job? No, please tell me... how much is this man paying you to sleep with him? Because only money can make you change your mind like this -"

Khushi couldn't take this anymore. She angrily raised her hand and slapped him hard on the cheek.

Aman looked at her, shocked as he caressed his burning cheek, "How dare you raise your hand on me, Khushi?"

"And how dare you question my character? You're disgusting.. you know me more than anyone here and still you think so cheap of me," she yelled at him, her red eyes filled with unshed tears as she tried to maintain her composure to face him, but deep down, she was completely broken after she was accused of being a gold digger, a woman with loose character by the man she most loves in this world.

Seeing tears in those beautiful hazel eyes, Aman immediately regretted the words that left his mouth in the heat of the moment. He shut his eyes tightly, turning his back to her and running his fingers through his hair roughly, frustrated and angry with himself.

Khushi was staring at nothing in particular. The tears started rolling down her cheeks. She was still in a state of shock, not believing that this was the man she loved unconditionally. This is the same man she considered as her protector for life after her Bhaiya. This is the same man who she thought would always treat her with dignity. This is the same man that she trusted blindly. This is the same man she gave respect to at the same level as her brother. This is the same man she thought would stand by her side through the good and bad phases of their lives.

Today, she saw another side of his that shattered her heart completely.

Aman turned to her to console her, and he  approached her with a soft guilty tone, pulling her closer to him, circling his arms around her waist as he brought his face closer to hers, "Khushi.. I'm.."

"No," Khushi turned her face to the other side to avoid him. She tried to push him, feeling disgusted and angry with him, but he tightened his grip on her waist, not letting her go, "Please listen to me. Let me explain.. I'm sorry, meri jaan. I didn't mean anything I said to you."

"Aman, just leave me.. go away from here.. I don't want to listen to your stupid explanations.. neither do I want to see your face right now," Khushi started hitting on his chest and trying to push him away while sobbing in his arms.

"Khushi meri baat toh suno please.."

"Nahi suna.. choddo mujhe (I don't want to listen.. leave me)," she cried, trying to free herself from his grip helplessly.

And finally, to her relief, Aman left her  when they heard Arnav's shout behind, "What the hell is happening here? This is my office, not a place for couples to fight and patch up."

Arnav was angrily staring at Aman, who distanced himself from Khushi and stood straight, lowering his eyes in front of him.

"Sorry sir," Khushi managed to speak in a broken tone, as she looked down, quickly wiping away the tears from her cheeks and composing herself.

Arnav approached them with sharp and intimidating steps. He motioned Khushi to go back to her cabin, and she obeyed him, walking back to her chair. And then he turned to Aman, narrowing his eyes at him. He asked in a no-nonsense, cold tone, "Do you want me to send your termination letter?"

Aman gulped, shaking his head in negative,  stammering, "N..no si-sir."

"Don't make the mistake of thinking that I'm like your ex-boss who let loafers and dumb heads like you work in my office.. warna yaad hai pichle baar kya hua na, usse bhi bura hoga tumhare saath (or else you remember what happened last time, something even worse than that will happen to you)," Arnav warned him in his husky dangerous tone.

"I'm.. so-sorry.. sir," Aman managed to speak, afraid of losing his job, "Please don't - "

"Shut up," Arnav frowned, "Get out! And don't show me your face anymore. Otherwise, I'll kick you out of here." 

Aman nodded. He left from there feeling deeply insulted by Arnav once again. But right he wasn't worried about this. He was just thinking how pacify his Khushi, who was hurt with him.

Arnav walked back inside his cabin, watching Khushi break down through the cctv live footage. She was crying heavily, her body was shaking, and she was having  difficulty breathing normally.

He picked up his phone from the table and called Anjali, and as soon as she attended his call, he said, "Come back to AR. Your friend is not well."

"What did you do to her?" he heard his sister ask in a panicked and worried tone.

"If I had done something to her, do you think I would have called you to come and check on her? Use your brains, dammit!" he replied angrily. Not waiting to hear what she said next, he cut the call and threw his phone carelessly on the table.